Welcome to the ninth edition of Unsung Heroes, where I delve into the archives to find some of the best individual performances in Ohio State football history.

FOREWARD:  My sincerest apologies for keeping all you waiting for this installment. Life has intruded on my writing for the past couple weeks. But like a famous mad scientist, I have emerged from the flames triumphant and rejuvenated.

We’re in Camp Randall Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. It’s 4th and 1 late in the 4th quarter of a tight-knit game that has the Ohio State Buckeyes leading the Badgers 14-7. In addition to this nail-bitter is a storyline the press are waiting to break, Wisconsin running back Montee Ball is on the verge of becoming the FBS leader in career rushing touchdowns, surpassing Travis Prentice of Miami Ohio. Ball tied the record earlier in the game, and now is not only seeking to claim the record for himself, but lead his team to tying the game.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada calls a Wisconsin specialty, Power I handoff with a pulling guard to seal the block. Everyone watching on both sidelines, the fans in the stands, and the millions watching from home know this play’s coming. Wisconsin has run this play since Barry Alvarez resurrected the program. They pride themselves on their physicality, and they’re not going to change now.

The ball is snapped. Curt Phillips turns and hands it off to Ball, who leaps to try and dive over the pile. The crowd is ready to erupt in a thunderous ovation. Tens of thousands of spectators try their hardest to become professional photographers and capture an image of college football history. A record breaking touchdown to tie the game in the waning moments of the fourth quarter against the unbeaten overlords of the Big Ten on Wisconsin’s Senior Day. The cherry on top was an epic dive over a pile of humanity. This moment in time is to be forever remembered. Let’s see the finished product.

A hundred and fifty years prior, the moniker Stonewall was used to describe the Lieutenant General of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, better known as the Stonewall Brigade. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson would die from friendly fire after being mistook by Confederate pickets to be a member of a Union cavalry force while returning to camp following the Battle of Chancellorsville. A bullet lodged in his left arm, causing it to be amputated, and he succumbed to the wound three weeks later.

Now, nearly a century and a half later, there was a new Stonewall, this time in Madison, Wisconsin. And rather than being shot in the left arm, this Stonewall was delivering a shot to the arms of Montee Ball while on the doorstep of college football history. Modern Stonewall, thy name is Ryan Shazier.

The 2012 college football season was zany to say the least. Kansas State was ranked #1 in late November. Texas A&M, a mediocre Big 12 team, was running roughshod through the SEC in their debut season in their new conference. Rutgers was ranked in the top 25 for seven straight weeks. Northern Illinois was playing in the Orange Bowl. I could go on and on.

This was an era when the Leaders and Legends divisions existed in the Big Ten. Ohio State and Michigan were in separate divisions, meaning they could’ve played each other two consecutive weeks if Brady Hoke stopped clapping his hands for five minutes and wore a headset. Wisconsin finished third in the Leaders division with a 4-4 conference record, but because of the postseason ineligibility of the two teams ahead of them (OSU and Penn State) they meandered their way into Indianapolis for the B1G Championship Game, where they avenged an early season loss to Nebraska by pounding the Huskers 70-31 en route to their third consecutive Rose Bowl appearance.

This would be the final year for Bert Bielema at Wisconsin before taking the job at Arkansas. If there was ever a season encapsulating Bert’s mediocrity as a coach, this is it. This Wisconsin team had three running backs that would eventually play in the NFL (Ball, James White, and Melvin Gordon), one of the top three centers on planet Earth during the 2010s in Travis Fredrick, a top 15 defense, and two excellent coordinators: Matt Canada on offense (best known for being the interim Maryland coach when the Terps put 51 on the Bucks in 2018) and Chris Ash on defense (who would win a natty with the Bucks just two years later). But a quarterback carousel between incoming Maryland transfer Danny O’Brien, senior Curt Phillips, and sophomore Joel Stave, plus an inability to win close games, led to the most prosperous subpar season in Wisconsin history.

The Badgers finished the year 8-6, but didn’t lose a game by more than seven points, and lost three, yes three, overtime games in 2012.

On the other side, the 2012 Buckeyes were in their first season under Urban Meyer, and due to the notorious “Tat-gate” scandal were ineligible for postseason play. Despite this, the Buckeyes headed into Madison 10-0, having pulled off several nail-biting victories, including against the likes of Cal, Michigan State, Indiana, and Purdue. This would be no different.

It was their first time visiting Madison since October 16th, 2010, when Jim Tressel’s top-ranked Buckeyes lost 31-18 in what is still to this day Wisconsin’s most recent victory over Ohio State. The Bucks dealt a measure of revenge to the Badgers the following season when Braxton Miller’s 40-yard touchdown heave to Devin Smith effectively ended any chance of Wisconsin playing for the BCS Title, was the greatest bright spot on an otherwise dismal Buckeye season, and emitted one of the loudest eruptions in Ohio Stadium history, a deafening roar that reached near Biblical proportions.

I’ll cut to the chase on this one. The Buckeyes offense was bad, there’s no other way to describe it. They finished the game with a meager 236 yards of total offense, including Braxton Miller throwing for only 97 yards on 10 completions, only 8 more yards than he had in the last year’s game against Wisconsin with a Bollman-led offense. It was as cliché as the old-fashioned Big Ten November slugfest can be.

OSU did jump out to an early 14-0 lead, thanks to a Philly Brown 68-yard punt return touchdown and a Carlos Hyde 15-yard touchdown scamper. After that, the offense hit a cold spell that they wouldn’t break until overtime.

Ball tied the record midway through the 2nd quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run that gave the Badgers their first score of the contest, hurdling over Shazier in the process.

Outside of that, the game was like a teeter-totter punt fest. A battle of field position and the two teams vying for the most inept passing attack. I personally enjoy watching hard-hitting, low-scoring defensive dominance… when the Bucks aren’t involved. I’d much rather see a fifty-point beat down every week. But life and college football aren’t so courteous.

The 4th quarter was when Shazier’s chef-d'oeuvre began. On Wisconsin’s second offensive play of the final quarter, they ran an end around with Melvin Gordon, only for their freshman back to receive a thunderous hit from OSU’s #10 on defense that resulted in a two-yard loss.

The collision forced Shazier to miss the remainder of the possession. Fortunately Wisconsin’s drive stalled and they were forced to punt, and Shazier would return soon after.

OSU goes three-and-out, and a subpar Ben Buchanan punt that rolls backwards to OSU’s 46 sets Wisconsin up beautifully. This is do or die time for the Badgers. 7 minutes remaining and 46 yards away from tying the game on Senior Day. The drive begins with a Montee Ball 25-yard run. The crowd and Joe Tessitore (the play-by-play man) begin eagerly anticipating not only a tying score to enhance the drama, but to witness first-hand NCAA history being made. Two plays later, Curt Phillips throws to his fullback Derek Watt on a wheel route that appears like a certain touchdown, only for Bradley Roby to jar the ball free at the last possible instant, saving a touchdown and also saving Shazier’s glorious moment.

On 3rd and 7, Ball runs off right tackle for six yards, setting up a critical 4th and 1, which Curt Phillips snuck behind his mammoth O-line to convert. Zach Boren made a tremendous ankle tackle on Ball the following play while getting blocked to hold Ball to a 4-yard gain, saving another potential touchdown.

On 2nd and 6, Ball ran off left tackle, appearing to have a clear path to the end zone; but Christian Bryant, the man for whom Ryan Shazier would change his jersey number in honor of midway through the next season, forced Ball to cut back inside into the waiting arms of Bradley Roby.

On 3rd and 2, Ball runs up the middle surging for the goal line, but was denied a half-yard shy of the first down marker and a full yard shy of the end zone by the duo of Shazier and Etienne Sabino. Even with Wisconsin teammates desperately trying to push Ball across the goal line, the Buckeye linebackers refused to be pushed back. The side judge marked Ball down at the one-yard line, approximately eighteen inches short of the first down. There was debate as to whether Ball had gotten the first down on the play, but the ensuing rugby scrum made the replay booth unable to overturn the call, setting up a critical 4th and 1 with less than 3 minutes remaining. The biggest play of the game was here.

Welcome to a moment in history.

There was an audible gasp as the play unfolded. The 80,112 spectators in attendance all anxiously awaited the inevitable. But like a masterfully crafted plot twist, the entire audience was left shocked. There were groans, grumbles, and cries from the Wisconsin faithful, with a small cacophony of cheering from the Buckeye sections of the crowd.

I'd like to imagine Ball sat on the turf with the cartoon birds and stars floating above his head as he sat up believing the record was his. That he didn't know what had truly happened until he noticed the looks of dread and horror on the crowd's faces. In turn, he looks up at the jumbo-tron and watches himself become etched not into the history books, but into the Legendarium of Buckeye football. He sees his teammates in disbelief as he saunters to his sideline. Ball looks across the field and sees the Buckeye coaches equally as shocked, but congratulating #10, the human roadblock and becomes sick to his stomach.

This can't be real, he thinks. This has to be a dream. Or at least the alternate ending to some B-list movie.

Indeed, Montee. This is just like a movie. A movie made by Shattered Dreams Production, Inc.

It’s often forgotten that Wisconsin could’ve moved the chains without scoring. Curt Phillips could’ve ran another QB sneak and gotten the first down. But Bert got greedy. It was evident he was trying with all his might to get Ball the record, having handed the ball off to him four straight times, and six times on this eight-play drive. Bert was glutton for punishment as much as he was glutton for another slice of cheesecake. As a result, Ball was denied his place in CFB immortality for one more week, and it was only thanks to Travis Fredrick’s incredible reflexes that Christian Bryant didn’t take the game’s only turnover 96 yards to the house.

That was it, right? After that, all the momentum is on OSU’s side. The entire Wisconsin team and crowd must be demoralized. Kerry Coombs is so pumped up, he’s probably about to head-butt a bull after seeing Shazier’s goal line denial (what I wouldn’t give to see that). Wisconsin only has two timeouts, so the Bucks can run the clock down to under two minutes and force Wisconsin’s dreadful passing game to try and beat them. Hell, they could ice the game with just one first down.

But this is the 2012 Buckeyes. They always have to take the toughest road to victory.

After three straight runs that netted a whopping total of four yards, Ben Buchanan was called on to punt for the eighth time. Wisconsin drove 42 yards and scored the tying touchdown on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Phillips to his tight end Jacob Pederson with eight seconds remaining. Overtime it is.

"So this is the price we have to pay for Kenny G beating Purdue?" I remember saying to my dad after Wisconsin tied it. I wasn't much of an optimist entering overtime given how awful the offense had been, and how Wisconsin seemed to be wearing down the Silver Bullets toward the end of the 4th quarter. Kenny Guiton made a last-second comeback against Purdue just four weeks earlier, hitting Chris Fields for a TD with 3 seconds left, and winning it in overtime to preserve the unbeaten season. Now it appeared OSU would be victims of an almost identical situation.

The Bucks started on offense. A first down run by Hyde and two successful scrambles by Miller got the Bucks down to the Wisconsin 2. Hyde punched it in for OSU’s first score since the 11:27 mark of the 2nd quarter. 21-14 Bucks.

Wisconsin began with a six-yard Ball run off left tackle. On 2nd and 4, they ran the same play action fullback wheel route that Roby broke up in the 4th quarter. This time Shazier came on a blitz and walloped Phillips as he threw an errant pass. A subsequent two-yard loss by Ball set up 4th and 6, ballgame on the line.

Matt Canada called the same play Wisconsin scored the last-second tying touchdown on, an 8-yard curl route to the tight end. This time the Bucks made the play, as Christian Bryant swooped in and deflected the pass to end the game, and improve the Bucks to 11-0 as they headed back home to prepare for Urban’s first game against Michigan as the Bucks’ headman.

*Deep breath* Phew. What a game!

The aftermath sent the two teams in completely different directions, for better and worse. Ohio State defeated Michigan 26-21 the following week to finish 12-0 in Urban’s first year, beginning an unprecedented eight-year reign of unblemished conquest over the poor souls in Ann Arbor. Wisconsin lost their next game in overtime to Penn State, demolished Nebraska to win the Big Ten for a third consecutive season, and lost their third straight Rose Bowl game to Stanford, 20-14, with Barry Alvarez acting as interim coach after Bielema pussed out headed southward to coach the Razorbacks to a 29-34 record over a four-year tenure.

There are several unsung heroes from this unsung game in the Ohio State football epoch. The entire Silver Bullets pitched a masterpiece of a performance. John Simon terrorized Wisconsin’s normally stout offensive line for three and a half sacks. Bradley Roby had as good a game stopping the run as a corner could possibly have. Etienne Sabino and Zach Boren each made just as vital, albeit not as memorable, tackles during Wisconsin’s penultimate drive in regulation. Christian Bryant stopped Ball from having a clear path to the end zone two plays before Shazier’s legendary strip, and knocked away Wisconsin’s final pass to seal the victory.

But I decided to go with Ryan Shazier on this one. He might not stand out until the iconic goal line denial when you re-watch this game, but he quietly recorded nine tackles and forced two fumbles, and every one of his tackles were on a running play that went no further than five yards. If Montee Ball is able to score on that iconic play, Wisconsin may get the ball back and win it in regulation. No perfect 2012 season, no 24-game win streak, and Urban would be 0-1 against Bert. *Shivers* Thank God that’s not reality.

Thank you for reading.

Video Links:
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin 2012 (Full Game)
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin 2012 (25-minute condensed version)
Ryan Shazier vs. Wisconsin 2012
Ryan Shazier Goal Line hit on Montee Ball

Previous Unsung Heroes forum links:
(#1) Chris Gamble's Heroic Performance in the 2002 National Championship
(#2) Cameron Heyward's Physical Domination of Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl
(#3) Beanie Wells's Historic Afternoon Against Michigan in 2007
(#4) Michael Bennett's Emotional Demolition of Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten Championship
(#5) Chris Spielman's Fabled 29 Tackle Game vs. Michigan in 1986
(#6) Evan Spencer's Unforgettable Showing vs. Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl
(#7) Ryan Day's Final Game as Interim Head Coach vs. TCU in 2018
(#8) Ted Ginn, Jr.'s Bedazzling Breakout Game vs. Michigan State in 2004